Experts have been warning for years about security blunders in the Signaling System 7 protocol – the magic glue used by cellphone networks to communicate with each other. [...]

O2-Telefonica in Germany has confirmed to Süddeutsche Zeitung that some of its customers have had their bank accounts drained using a two-stage attack that exploits SS7.

In other words, thieves exploited SS7 to intercept two-factor authentication codes sent to online banking customers, allowing them to empty their accounts. The thefts occurred over the past few months, according to multiple sources.

I am honestly amazed the US banking system still works this way, after over a decade of rampant identity theft:

I cannot count the number of times I’ve freely given out my routing and account numbers—in emails, in webforms, in paperwork. This is because it’s necessary for other people to know my routing number and account number in order for them to send me money. But apparently, with that same information, they can also snatch money straight from my account. What kind of insane system is this? There’s two factor authentication, there’s one factor authentication, and then there’s this, which I think I can call zero factor authentication.

I can't commit code at CloudFlare because we use two-factor auth for the VPN (and everything else) and non-Apple apps on my iPhone are asking for my iTunes password. Tried airplane mode and apps simply don't load at all!

That is a _disastrous_ policy choice by Apple. Does this mean Apple can shut down third-party app operation on iOS devices worldwide should they feel like it?

Fastmail.FM nearly had their domain stolen through an attack exploiting missing 2FA authentication in Gandi.

An important lesson learned is that just because a provider has a checkbox labelled “2 factor authentication” in their feature list, the two factors may not be protecting everything – and they may not even realise that fact themselves. Security risks always come on the unexpected paths – the “off label” uses that you didn’t think about, and the subtle interaction of multiple features which are useful and correct in isolation.

Avivah Litan, a fraud analyst with Gartner Inc., said that although the current PCI standard does not require organizations to maintain separate networks for payment and non-payment operations (page 7), it does require merchants to incorporate two-factor authentication for remote network access originating from outside the network by personnel and all third parties.